We don't know where to look first.

The massive pillars, looking like tree trunks, stone chameleons, tortoises and turtles, help support the columns.

The sheer size of the place is amazing. Some of the towers soar more than 500 feet. Even jaded teens, like my 13-year-old niece, Erica Fieldman, can't help but be impressed.

Welcome to Antonin Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, www.sagradafamilia.org, Barcelona's most famous site and Spain's most visited. More than 40 years after the eccentric and revered architect's death - he was struck by a tram - work still continues on the huge church first begun in 1882. Some 2.5 million people visited last year.

This is a great place to engage the kids in a scavenger hunt. (Find the fruit carved on top of the towers, the young stone musicians, the birds.) There are two completed facades - one represents the birth of Jesus, the other the Passion of Christ.

Park Guell garden complex, designed to be a housing development, was Gaudi's largest work in Barcelona. It's a garden city with fantastically shaped roofs and a house that looks as if it's made out of candy. Unfortunately, no one in Barcelona gravitated toward the idea. Only three houses were built.

I'd live there in a minute for the spectacular views of Barcelona.

Barcelona, home to the 1992 Summer Olympics, is one city that appeals to kids (especially teens) and parents. In recent years, it's become a favorite of American families who

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board cruise ships here in summer, which we did last year. If you plan to do a lot of touring, get the Barcelona card (www.barcelonaturisme.com), which includes free public transportation, museum admissions, restaurant discounts and more. There are some 10,000 restaurants in Barcelona and 35,000 shops. (Visit www.spain info.) And with such friendly locals, there's no better place for the kids to practice their Spanish.

Starting this spring, American Airlines (www.aa.com) will fly nonstop from New York to Barcelona.

Walk off your jet lag by taking in all the chic couples walking along the beach, the city's famous art nouveau architecture, the art, (Picasso lived here as a teen), the ancient Gothic Quarter and the street entertainers along the milelong Las Ramblas. Ever see a human flower statue? A bird market? I never saw so many different kinds of gummies than at the famous Boqueria food market, said to be the largest in Europe. It's been here for centuries.

The kids will give a thumbs up to Montjuic, one of Barcelona's largest recreation areas, which rises nearly 700 feet above the south side of the city. We're holing up overnight at the Hotel Arts Barcelona (www.hotelartsbarcelona.com), a Ritz Carlton, a famous icon of the Barcelona skyline and a short walk from the beach and many of the city sites.

The place is packed with families, even on the concierge level where parents and kids indulge in free breakfasts, snacks and drinks.

Another highlight is the secluded pool area next to the distinctive shadow of the Frank Gehry fish sculpture.

But before we hit the pool a little culture is in order.

MY PICK: Museu Picasso (http://www.museupicasso.bcn.es/e ng/index_eng.htm). It's housed in three spectacular stone mansions in the historic quarter of the city and showcases works from the artist's early years, his Blue Period and early works from Barcelona.

Picasso moved here in 1895 at the age of 14 and donated some 2,500 art pieces to the museums in 1970.

I'm determined to have paella for lunch. Paella, of course, is the famous Spanish rice dish that's usually topped with chicken, sausage and shellfish. We head to a small restaurant in the old historic quarter of the city, Los Caracoles.

I'm completely charmed by the mosaics and the open kitchen, the way the rooms of the restaurant wind up around an old staircase.

Erica unfortunately isn't.

"I just won't eat," says Erica, after perusing the menu. We dig into our paella. Erica agrees to taste it. Not bad, she says, helping herself to more rice. I just sip my sangria and don't say a word. A few months later, Erica tells me she's decided where she wants to go abroad when she's in college - Barcelona.

Eileen Ogintz, a resident of Fairfield County, invites questions, comments and stories about your family travels. For more on her trip to Barcelona, read her blog at www.takingthekids.com.Write to Taking the Kids, 578 Post Road East, #566, Westport CT 06880.